1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to manually manipulatable knives having power driven ring-like blades which knives are used for trimming comestible products; especially meat, principally in the packing house and meat distribution industries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Manually manipulable knives having a power driven ring-like cutting blade and a depth of cut gauges are known but the capabilities of these prior knives are limited and are not entirely satisfactory for many operations such as, trimming fat, skin, membrane, or the like, from meat products, for example, hams. Knives of the character mentioned are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,461,557 and 3,688,403 which patents are believed to disclose the most pertinent prior art known to applicant.
Some additional patents in the art to which the present invention belongs are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,827,657; 3,024,532; U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,947; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,269,010; 3,852,882 and some of the references cited therein including German Pat. No. 1,064,216.
The knife shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,557 has a disk supported in the opening of an annular power driven blade supported in an annular part of the frame or body of the knife which includes a generally round handle extends in a radial direction. The handle lies generally in the plane of the annular ring-like blade. The disk is supported and adjusted axially of the blade by structure located within the circumference of the blade and extending a considerable distance axially of the blade and is purported to serve as a depth of cut control or gauge when the knife is moved over a work body with the plane of the knife blade inclined slightly upwardly therefrom. The periphery of the depth of cut control disk closes the opening through the annular or ring-like parts of the knife except for an inadequate space about it periphery through which space a slice cut from the product being trimmed passes. The disk obviously obstructs the operatives view of the product where a slice is to be taken.
The mechanism for adjusting the depth of cut control or gauge member of the knife of U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,403 extends, as does, the corresponding mechanism shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,557, a considerable distance axially above the blade and interferes with the attractiveness of the knife and its use. The configuration of the space between the blade and the gauge is such that parts trimmed from a product are not adequately guided therethrough and in some instances tend to accumulate therein, thus reducing the effectiveness of the knife. The present knife is of a more simplified design than the prior knives, has a cross sectional shape relative to the blade which facilitates the passage of trimmed parts of the product between the gauge and the blade has a better appearance, has greater in use capabilities than prior knives and is otherwise considered a major improvement of the prior knive especially for certain trimming operations and it is believed that it will be well accepted in the packing house and other meat processing industries.